Free Republic

Rick Perry can't get out of his own way. During the presidential debates, he has reviled three immigration issues that Republicans hold dear: passing mandatory E-Verify legislation, rejecting federal and state versions of the DREAM Act, and building a border fence. About E-Verify, Perry foolishly claims that it would not make "a hill of beans" worth of difference. Regarding the DREAM Act, Perry said that those who disagree with his decision to enact it in 2001 "don't have a heart." As for the border fence, Perry insists that it is "idiocy" to build it. The debates represented Perry's chance to...

At the Fox News-Google Republican debate in Orlando last week, Rick Perry was—as usual—in the cross-hairs. Rick Santorum, the former Senator from Pennsylvania, had one of the most memorable lines of the evening. Said Santorum, “[Rick Perry] gave a speech in 2001 where he talked about bi-national health insurance between Mexico and Texas. I mean, I don’t even think Barack Obama would be for bi-national health insurance! So, I think he’s very weak on this issue of American sovereignty.” The implication being that Perry is some kind of one-world government socialist. [snip] Contrary to Sen. Santorum’s impression, the idea here...

Reporting from Tampa, Fla. -- A black, threatening cloud hung low over the Orange County Convention Center on Saturday evening as top members of Gov. Rick Perry’s brain trust left a place their candidate would love to forget. At best half showed up, leaving tables groaning with uneaten bagels, scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit cocktail. At the end of the governor’s rather perfunctory eight-minute speech, the breakfast crowd offered a rather perfunctory round of applause, the first public clue that all might not be going well in Perryville. The Texan’s campaign fielded the largest cadre of volunteers and paid staff...

Thank you Senator Lucio. President Nevarez, UT-Pan American is to be commended for its vision and leadership in hosting this unprecedented border summit in the beautiful Texas town of Edinburg. My friends from Mexico, including Governor Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba of Tamaulipas, and Governor Fernando Canales Clariond of Nuevo Leon, it is an honor to be in your presence. I want to extend my gratitude to our Mexican neighbors for hosting me this July as I sought to learn one of the world’s great languages, Spanish. I enjoyed your hospitality, and was grateful for your patience as I worked on my...

“The American way is not to give taxpayer-subsidized benefits to people who have broken our laws and are here in the United States illegally,” Bachmann said at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate. Perry defended the law, saying it was a states’ rights issue. “We were clearly sending a message to young people that, regardless of what the sound of their last name is, that we believe in you,” Perry said.